Surry, Yves
- Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Since agriculture is responsible for a considerable share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), this paper examines the impact of various carbon taxes designed to incentivize environmentally friendly food consumption patterns in four European countries: Finland, Italy, Sweden, and the UK. As the proposed fiscal policies are likely to affect food consumption patterns, the study also assesses the consequent changes in diet quality and welfare. The results from this analysis reveal considerable variations in the reduction of GHGE across countries and tax schemes. While most taxation schemes have only a modest impact on dietary quality, these effects differ among nations. Additionally, the welfare cost of the compensated scheme is relatively small but not insignificant. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of a common European fiscal policy for climate mitigation compared to a more flexible approach where each member state calibrates the tax according to its unique circumstances.
Keywords
carbon tax; cross-country analysis; demand analysis; environmental policy; greenhouse gas emissions
Published in
Q Open
2024, volume: 4, number: 2, article number: qoae023
Publisher: Oxford University Press
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Economics and Management
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/qopen/qoae023
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/142662